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After 6 Months Our Zap Xebra is Legal!

For the past 6 months I have been working through a drawn out process of getting a Wisconsin title and license plate for the Zap Xebra I previously acquired.

If the Zap had previously been titled, I could have walked right in, followed normal procedure and walked out that same visit with a new title in my name. But because this was a vehicle from 2006 that had never been titled and all I had was a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin (MCO) it made the issue very complex. It is unusual for a consumer to ever be in possession of a vehicle’s MCO, much less turn it in to try to get a title. Usually that is done by the dealer.

Anyway, over the past 1/2 year I have been asked to do an amazing number of things. Most requests came sequentially rather than all at once, and originally the requests would come by mail which drew the process out even longer. By the end, the DOT representative and I would communicate by email and I would physically drop things off at the DOT main office which streamlined things a bit.

The process involved:

Filling out the DMV MV-1 form

Payment of registration fees and taxes

Verbal confirmation that the vehicle had a Federal Safety Certification Label

Turning in the Manufacturers Certificate of Origin

Taking a picture of the Federal Safety Certification Label

Taking a picture of the vehicle

Weighing the vehicle at the DOT Scale on the interstate 80 miles away and witnessed by a State Trooper (This request was rescinded after I offered an alternative.)

Weighing of vehicle at the local certified scale witnessed by a police officer (The scale was at our town’s Grain Elevator)

Taking a picture of the above weigh-in

Having the above picture signed by the observing officer attesting to the fact that he witnessed the weigh in. (This request was later rescinded and alternative made.)

Sending an email from the official work email address from the officer who witnessed the weigh in attesting to the fact that the weigh in phot is correct.

Returning of the refund that DMV inadvertently automatically generated because the process had taken so long.

Providing a bill of sale.

Sending in a handwritten statement from me of the odometer reading

Sacrifice of my firstborn son (Just kidding about this one.)

Whew!!!!

While the paperwork was being processed, I was pulled over by the local police several times. The first time was within 24 hours of driving it on my city’s streets. The final time was about two weeks before I got the plate in the mail. I got very used to carrying around up-to-date paperwork so I was ready for these instances.

Technically, I have only received the license plate, but not the title, but I assume the title will make its way here shortly.

A special thanks go out to everyone who helped make this happen: Preston, Tim, K-Man, Jesse, Chris M, and everyone at Sector at 67, Deputy Hanson, RI18 at the DOT, and my patient family.

I am looking forward to many miles with the Zap!

*** UPDATE *** Title arrived a few days later, so the process is complete.